Sword Art Online: Chaos Labyrinth Beginning
| author = Yasuda Izumi | characters = Shiota Yuurei Quartz (Cameo) Tiffany Chelsea Asano (Cameo) Illyasviel Kotone Takemiya (Mentioned) Nijika Karatachi (Mentioned) }} Sword Art Online: Chaos Labyrinth Beginning (ソードアートオンライン・乱麻迷宮 初め, Sōdo Āto Onrain: Ranma Meikyū Hajime) is the first volume in the Sword Art Online: Chaos Labyrinth arc. It covers Floors 1-10 of Aincrad. It is succeeded by Sword Art Online: Chaos Labyrinth Rising. Synopsis If your HP reaches zero, you will also die in the real world. — Akihiko Kayaba Those words still echo in the mind of gamer Shioko Kirigaya. She had just logged into the official release of Sword Art Online, a game in which she had been one of the beta testers during the closed beta. She had thought that it was just a new experience. No. It turned into a deadly entrapment holding 10,000 players captive. Also trapped within the game, Shioko decided to put her entire being into clearing the game. It was all... or nothing. Plot To read the full text, please head to here or Fanfiction.net. Prologue The story begins at a game shop where Shioko gets her hands on the SAO game disc. It was a rainy November day and she had forgotten her rain gear. Hurrying home, she waves hello to her cousin before disappearing into her room. She sets down her gear, slaps on the NerveGear, and dives into the world of SAO. Shioko encounters a newbie, Chelsea, who sought out advice from her on how to level up fast. The two girls burned the rest of the day, killing monsters and gaining EXP. Bidding each other good-bye, Chelsea attempts to log out but discovers that there is no log-out option. Suddenly, all 10,000 players of SAO were forcefully teleported back to the plaza in the Town of Beginnings. There, the creator of SAO, Akihiko Kayaba, appeared as a "poorly dressed Grim Reaper" as described by Shioko. He explains the feature of the log-out option not being there and announces the start of the death game that is SAO. He leaves an item that when looked at, transforms the player to their real-life appearance. Frustrated, Shioko drags Chelsea with her but to no avail. The two separate and Shioko disappears to the next town. Chapter 1: The First Floor Part I: Acumen of Silent Bitterness Five weeks had passed since the start of the death game and 2,000 players had already died. The first floor has yet to be cleared. One day, Shioko receives a message that announces the discovery of the first floor boss room. The discoverer, , calls for a meeting. At the meeting, he shares info from info brokers about the boss battle and pleads to the assembled players to party up. Shioko parties up with a blonde male named Yuurei. The boss battle begins quite well enough. After ten minutes of fighting, the boss has been reduced to three-quarters of its full health. Part II: Ode to Infinite Madness Cursing the fact that she was unable to finish off the boss with her sword skill chains, she apologizes to Diavel who admonishes her for apologizing. More fighting ensues and the boss is reduced to the red of its last HP bar. It changes attack patterns and to everyone's surprise, it isn't the same as the beta and Diavel dies. In a mindless rage, Shioko and Yuurei finish off the boss together. Shioko apologizes to Yuurei for "doing this" and disbands the party. She walks up the stairs to the second floor. Alone. Chapter 2: The Second Floor Part I: Prelude to Star-crossed Joy Upon arriving on the second floor, Shioko states aloud, accusing Kayaba of hastening their deaths (of the players) by attempting to overload their brains with complete weirdness. Yuurei followed Shioko, the latter demanding an explanation for the former's actions. Their talk was interrupted by a series of monsters. A short fight ensued with Yuurei making the mistake of calling Shioko, "Ma'am" which makes her anger flare. Yuurei doesn't give a valid explanation for saying so but takes Shioko's arm, escorting her to the city of Urbus. Shioko finds it odd that she is not resisting. Forbidden feelings bubble within Shioko although she herself does not yet know of them. Part II: Calypso of Two Swords Waking up, Shioko comments on what a hectic day she had the previous day. Yuurei makes a call to her announcing that he had discovered a kill quest. Shioko agrees to do it together. When they find the quest NPC, they receive a detailed explanation of the monsters that is necessary to their quest. They also find that the quest is a search-and-rescue type as well. Setting off, the two battle Trembling Oxen. When the field boss appeared, Yuurei showed off his new Shooting Star sword skill which frightened Shioko. She scolds him, telling him to give her a warning the next time he uses it but to no avail. After killing the field boss, they go to search for the quest NPC's parents. They found them covered in wounds and safely escorted them back to the NPC. With the quest complete, the NPC offers her the quest reward, the katana Senbakiri. At first, Shioko refuses to take the sword as it was an heirloom in the NPC's family but took it after the latter insisted. Part III: Crime Under the Cover of Night Upon returning to town, Shioko gives the blade to Tiffany for appraisal. Tiffany was very surprised at the sword since it had a very strong DPS. Tiffany urged Shioko to give it to her to sell but the latter refused. Shioko was then subsequently buried under players who repeatedly asked her to reiterate the stats of the sword. Shioko found this extremely unpleasant and turned in early because of it. Shioko awakens oddly at 3 in the morning. Wondering what could have awakened her, her ears pick up hurried footsteps outside her door. She shot out of bed and threw open her closet. Her worst fear came true: someone had stolen both Senbakiri and Anneal Blade. She made chase after the thief and was lured into a dark alley where the thief challenged her to a Total Loss Duel. Weaponless, Shioko managed to fend off the thief's cronies before equipping her third weapon, Champion Foil. She amputated the thief's arms and reobtained her weapons but not before immobilizing him with paralysis. She then fled to a greenhouse and slept on its lawn. Part IV: Meeting of Powerful Strategists Shioko was awakened by Yuurei who screamed that he had spent most of the morning searching for her. Shioko playfully sighs, saying that someone was actually worried for her. Then, Shioko proceeded to explain that she had her weapons stolen earlier that morning. After a short yelling match, Yuurei suggested that the two go out to the field to gain EXP while allowing Shioko to level up her katana skill. Shioko readily agreed and the two spent the next three days outside. On December 12, Shioko and Yuurei sighed at the fact that they were leveling up quite slowly. Both agreed that it probably was Kayaba's fault and he was messing with them. Yuurei relentlessly calls Shioko "Princess", much to the latter's embarrassment. Upon returning to the inn, Shioko is again assaulted by the mysterious thief. Yuurei nearly loses his temper and tries to kill the man but due to the safe zone, he is unable to do so. The thief warns Shioko to watch her back. Yuurei puts away his rapier and demands to Shioko that she hand over her weapons so that he can keep it safe. She adamantly refused but upon Yuurei's insisting, begrudgingly agreed. The two parted ways for the day. The next day, December 13, the two received a notice that the second floor's boss room had been discovered. A strategy meeting was called by a man named and the man that labeled Shioko as a beater on the first floor, . was also there, providing detailed information about the floor boss. She also commented that if it wasn't the same as the beta, they were screwed. Shioko laughed at this and admonished Argo, telling her that she was here to motivate them, not give them another reason not to participate in the raid. Lind suggested that they assault the labyrinth the day after so as to give time for the players to prepare their equipment. Shioko and Yuurei went to an NPC blacksmith to get enhancements on Senbakiri and Wind Fleuret, respectively. After that, they parted ways so as to get a lot of rest for the tiresome boss battle the next day. Part V: Dance of the Crane Upon awakening, the two met at their usual place, right outside the city gates. They contemplated on why Lind and the rest of the raid party weren't there. As one, their anger flared as they realized that he must've ventured into the dungeons already with most of the raid party. They charged into the labyrinth and arrived at the boss room. Lind scolded them, asking for why they are late but Shioko rebuked him, saying that they maybe could've gotten there earlier if someone had given prior notice. Rolling his eyes, Lind threw open the boss room doors and led the rest in. Half (led by Lind) went after Nato and the other half (led by Shioko) went after Baran. Again using her special sword skill chains, Shioko managed to partially solo the boss. A surprise came when the doors in the back blew open and the actual floor boss made its appearance. Lind told three groups to assault the floor boss while Shioko pleaded that they make a tactical retreat. Silently cursing at Lind for not listening, she attacked the floor boss with relish. She again used sword skill chains and was pleasantly surprised to discover that Yuurei had also learned how to perform the skill chains. Yuurei waved her off, saying that it wasn't thanks to Shioko for using it in the previous boss battle. Shioko decisively landed the Last Attack by driving Anneal Blade, charged with Rage Spike, in a place located exactly between the boss' horns. Obtaining the Last Attack Bonus, the «Bullish Greatsword», and gave it to Lind because she herself is unable to use it, although the latter initially refused. Together, Shioko and Yuurei opened the way to the third floor. Chapter 3: The Third Floor Part I: Foliage of Despairing Mist Upon arriving on the third floor, Shiota and Yuurei have a short conversation about the landscape (a cloud forest) before heading to the main town of . However, before they left, Shiota sensed someone only for Yuurei to tell her off, saying that her nerves were frayed from the recent boss battle. Shiota agrees and they move to Zumfut. However, Shiota’s instinct was spot-on as a graceful girl with red hair flits in the shadows. Despite the time, Shiota expresses her urge to sleep. Shiota proceeds to pay for a room for two to which Yuurei was initially confounded. He then realized and looked away in embarrassment. Shiota takes a shower first but before she does, she places a sign on the door warning Yuurei to not enter. Shiota complains to herself about how she kind of hates her beauty. She then exits and collapses on the bed. Yuurei returns to the room and cleans himself up, accidentally using Shiota’s bath towel to do so. After he was done, he proceeds to mutter how tired he is before also zonking out. Part II: Shining Crepuscular Rays Drama was in order the next morning as when Yuurei awakens, he finds himself having ‘’quite’’ the morning view. He accidentally finds himself staring at a nude Shiota. After sorting through that disaster, the two discuss breakfast to which Yuurei comments on there being a cooking skill. Completely dumbfounded was Shiota upon hearing this. They later move on to hunt for quests while Shiota jests that the rain warrants for a quest that rewards attire for the weather. In the forests, Shiota begins to hack and slash. Yuurei eventually comments about what she was doing. Shiota shrugs and replies that it was a good way to increase skill level proficiency and sword skill proficiency. She also comments on the fact that the trees are Immortal Objects and wonders why the system allows her sword to touch it. Yuurei speculates that it was part of a quest before someone appears and leads them to the area of the quest which consisted of building a dam. Shiota gapes in awe when the newcomer performs a pole-vault maneuver to which the latter shakes off, telling her she wasn’t trying to do it. Yuurei proceeds to talk to the NPCs and returns with info on the quest. The three begin doing the quest by themselves. Part III: Introductions and Rivalries While Shiota and the newcomer, Illyasviel, held off the slimes, Yuurei helped the NPCs build the dam. A group of four arrives, led by Quartz. It is then revealed that Illyasviel is the commander of the Knights of the Blood guild. Another shock was the fact that Shiota and Illyasviel were siblings in the real world, even if they were just adopted. Quartz, Yuurei, Shiota and Illyasviel all proceed to introduce themselves using their real names. They then complete the quest. While talking, the players nearly failed to notice the elf raiders who had planned to destroy the bridge. After a short battle, Shiota, Yuurei and the Knights of the Blood drive them off (read: killed them all). They then returned to town on a good note. Illyasviel remains clinging to her sister’s arm much to Shiota’s irritation. Yuurei proceeds to get a nosebleed and claims that he got an injury during the earlier skirmish. Of course, it is impossible to bleed in SAO so he is called a pervert. Unable to shake her off, Shiota eventually takes her sister with her to the room, sleeping together. Part IV: Into the Inferno Part V: Tree of Horror Chapter 4: The Fourth Floor Part I: Sweet Ensemble of Night Shiota unlocks access to Floor 4 and is stumped to see that the terrain had changed from the beta, considering that Floor 4's landscape in the beta was canyon-themed and that now it is water-themed. She encounters a rather powerful monster and enlists the help of her friends, although jesting was in order first with Yuurei kissing Shiota's forehead. Shiota uses «Tsumujigurama» and kills the monster, however, she douses herself with slime. Quartz then finds a switch to activate a bridge to cross the water and the four make their way to the town of . Since they were extremely tired, they immediately bought a room and crashed. Part II: Murder of the Duke Drama was in order in the morning since Illya awakened her sister by leaping on her. Once that was settled, the four discuss the rumors flying around about the elf princess. Apparently, Shiota had murdered her groom, Orym, back on the third floor. However, she has betrothed again to another high-standing elf, «Elf Duke Ayre», who happens to be the first of the two field bosses. The four decide to crash another wedding. Returning to the stairs connecting the third and fourth floors, they begin their reconnaissance. Quartz eventually spots the elf's lair and leads them there through a relatively high-level area. Upon arriving at the lair, they proceed to march straight in. Shiota attacks Ayre and mortally wounds him... ...only for the latter to call on the elf army. Outnumbered at least fifty-to-one, fatigue eventually begins to creep up on the four. In no time, Shiota, Illya and Quartz are forced to reveal their Dual Blades, Dual Spears and Dual Daggers unique skill to each other in order to escape. Somehow managing to eradicate the elf army, the four stumble back to Rovia but not before torching Ayre's castle. Part III: Night Raid and Budding Friendship In the early morning, a renegade elf who wants to eradicate humans by the name of Sir Aywin the Elf General plans to besiege Rovia. At 0440 AST, Shiota is again crudely awakened by her sister and is told of Rovia's current situation, which was getting dire. In brooding anger, she takes up her sword and marches through the burning city. She eventually encounters a family of elves who further explain the situation to her and her friends before Shiota orders them to find shelter. Aywin himself appears in front of Shiota and she fights him alone. Halfway through, she changes her weapon and finishes him off with her Conjoined Cranes. At that moment, the Elf Princess Aenwyn appears and apprehends Illya. Managing not to lose her temper, Shiota calmly asks her what she planned to do with her sister. Aenwyn orders Illya's release in confusion since Shiota and Illya looked nothing alike. Aenwyn explains that she is one of the few elves that do not have a burning hatred to humans and invites the four of them to her castle as a gesture of friendship. Part IV: Betrayed Princess and Dark Secrets Shiota goes to Aenwyn's outer castle and has a small lunch with her. Aenwyn's curiosity is piqued and she continuously asks Shiota questions. Eventually, Shiota tells her the story behind her Conjoined Cranes. When lunch is served, Aenwyn's two aides, Cluym and Yalathanil, offer them water to drink. However, the water was spiked with paralysis and Shiota can't help but believe Aenwyn betrayed her. On the contrary, Aenwyn was also treated in the same way they were and so, Shiota believed she was not aware of this either. With this betrayal, the four players and their NPC companion were led to Aenwyn's parents. Arriving at the castle, the king and queen introduce themselves. The queen, Aleesia Eladithas (maiden name: Zinlee), challenges Shiota to a duel. Even with only using one hand, Shiota still rises victorious in her First Strike duel with Aleesia. Shiota and her friends were subsequently released and they slowly returned to the ruins of Rovia before crashing early. Part V: Equestrian of the Seas Chapter 5: The Fifth Floor Part I: River of Poison Part II: Crown of the Sun Part III: Crescendo of Midnight Part IV: Light Splitting Heaven and Earth Chapter 6: The Sixth Floor Part I: Quest of Unimaginable Grandeur Part II: Spirit of Rebellion Chapter 7: The Seventh Floor Part I: In Memoriam of Respect Part II: Aria of Distilled Excitement Chapter 8: The Eighth Floor Part I: Forest-induced Deja Vu Chapter 9: The Ninth Floor Part I: Darkness of the Elven Race Chapter 10: The Tenth Floor Part I: Longing for Home Epilogue Trivia *This book is the author's entry for the 2017 NaNoWriMo contest. References